CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

Introduction

Guidance and Counselling are two closely interrelated concepts. According to Makinde (1984) and Patterson (1977), guidance refers to a broad area of all educational activities and services aimed at assisting individual students to understand themselves and adjust to school life.

Mutie and Ndambuki (1999) defined guidance and counseling as a learning-oriented process which occurs in an interactive relationship with the aim of helping the clients to learn more about themselves.

Guidance and cancelling is therefore aimed at bringing about maximum development and self-realization of human potential for the benefit of the individual and the society. In schools, the programme assists students in harmonizing their abilities, interests and values and enables them to develop their full potential.

Olayinka (2001) opines that obtaining good grades in examinations to acquire certificates either for admission into a higher institution or to obtain good employment is the main goal of education for many people and not the acquisition of knowledge and skills through study. Many students perform poorly because they lack the right attitude to study and do not have the right orientation from home and from society (Essuman, 2007).

The following are aspects that will be discussed. Background of the study, Statement of Problem, Objectives of the study, research questions, research hypotheses, justification of the study significances of the study, scope of the study, operational definition and

Background of the study.

Historical background

The history of school counselling formally began at the turn of the twentieth century, though a case might be made for tracing the foundations of counselling and advice rules to ancient Greece and Rome with all the philosophical teachings of Plato and Aristotle.

There’s also evidence to argue that some of the methods and abilities of modern-day guidance counsellors were practised by Catholic priests in the Middle Ages, as may be observed from the determination to the idea of confidentiality within the confessional.

Close to the end of the sixteenth century, one of the 1st texts about professional solutions appeared: The Universal Plaza of All the Professions with the World, (1626) written by Tomaso Garzoni quoted in Guez, W. & Allen, J. (2000). Nevertheless, formal guidance programs using specialized textbooks did not start until the flip of the twentieth century.

The  development  of  guidance  and  counselling  originated  from  Europe  and  the  United  States  of  America  in  1900s. A  person  named Goodwin  in  1911  organized  a  wide  guidance  programme  in  USA  that  catered  for  students. The  emphasis  was  on  vocational  information, awareness  of  the  world  of  work, location  of  employment  and  reduction  of  examination  anxiety (Makinde,1984).

He noted  that   since  1950s,  popular  views  of  guidance  and  counselling  have  changed  rapidly  and  that  understanding  youths  problems  are  among  the  functions  of  school  guidance  and  counselling. The role of school counselors has changed over time.

At the turn of 20th century, school counselors did not exist, rather, teachers used a few minutes of their day to provide students with vocational guidance (Bower & Hatch, 2002). In the early 1900s, an influx of various types of students in the public schools occurred as a result of the industrial revolution, initiating the development of the school guidance movement. At this time, the purpose of the guidance counselor was to avoid problem behaviors, relate vocational interests to curriculum subjects and develop character.

Guidance and counseling services are essential elements in discipline management of people in all societies. Even the most primitive societies grew out of the necessity of guiding individual behavior patterns in the interest of the group. Society itself could not function without the exercise of discipline. Using guidance and counseling to promote discipline must continually be practiced if people are to work harmoniously for the achievement of the common purpose.

The role of guidance and counselling in the administration and management of student discipline in Cameroon has been recognized by various government policy documents since independence.

Counselling is an idea that has existed for a long time in Cameroon. We have sought throughout the ages to understand ourselves, offer counsel and develop our potential, become aware of opportunities and, in general, help ourselves in ways associated with formal guidance apply. In most communities, there has been, and there still is, a deeply embedded conviction that, under proper conditions, people can help others with their problems.

Some people help others find ways of dealing with, solving, or transcending problems as Nwoye, (2009) prescribed in his writings. In schools, presently if the collaboration between teachers and students is good, students learn in a practical way.

Young people develop degrees of freedom in their lives as they become aware of choices and take advantage of them. At its best, helping should enable people to throw off chains and manage life situations effectively. Unprecedented economic and social changes have, over the years, changed the ways in which we manage our lives.

Consequently, not all the lessons of the past can effectively deal using the challenges of modern day times. Effective counseling, especially in institutions of learning has now become important. Boys and girls, and young men and women, need to be guided in the relationships between health and the environment, earning abilities, knowledge, and attitudes that lead to success and failure in life.

The need for counselling has become paramount in order to promote the well-being of the child. Effective advice and counselling should help to improve the self-image of students and facilitate achievement in life tasks. Counselling should empower girls and boys to participate fully in, and benefit from, the economic and social development of the nation.

Formal guidance in the world originated in Europe and the United States of America in the 1900s. By 1911 an organized guidance programme in the United States of America was in place to cater for students’ needs.

The emphasis was on vocational information, awareness of the world of work, location of employment and reduction of examination anxiety (Makinde, 1984). Bor, Landy, Gill and Bruce (2002) have noted that guidance has changed rapidly and that understanding the functions of school guidance is important. Kilonzo (1984) states that, in

Conceptual background

Bhavnagar and Gupta (1999) define guidance as a process of helping the individual find solutions to his/her own problems and accept them as his own. Ipaye (1983) stated that guidance is a general label, an umbrella term that covers all the means whereby an institution identifies and responds to the individual needs of pupils/students and thereby helping the individual to develop his or her maximum potential.

Counselling, on the other hand, is a subset of the general term we call guidance services. The purposes of guidance and counselling (G&C) programs for school children are many folds.

Empirical evidence showed that G&C programs had a significant influence on improving discipline problems (Baker & Gerler, 2001), enhancing students’ grades (Gerler, Kinney & Anderson, 1985), strengthening social skills (Verduyn, Lord & Forrest, 1990), helping students make a wise decision on career development and college choices and developing positive study habits and study skills.

Mutie and Ndambuki (1999) defined guidance and counselling as a learning-oriented process that occurs in an interactive relationship with the aim of helping the clients to learn more about themselves.

Guidance and cancelling is therefore aimed at bringing about maximum development and self-realization of human potential for the benefit of the individual and the society. In schools, the programme assists students in harmonizing their abilities, interests and values and enables them to develop their full potential.

A final definition is that of Burks and Stefllre (1979), who define counselling as a “professional relationship between a trained counsellor and a client usually person-to-person, although it may sometimes involve more than two people.

It is designed to help clients understand and clarify their views of life, and space and learn to reach their self-determined goals through meaningful, well-informed choices and through the resolution of problems of an emotional or interpersonal nature”.

Guidance as a term refers to a broad area of educational activities and services aimed at assisting individuals in making and carrying out adequate plans leading to the achievement of desired life goals (Patterson, H, J, (1977). It is meant to equip the individual (student) with knowledge and techniques that will enable him or her to identify and find ways of anticipating and solving problems.

Contextual background

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Statement of the Problem

Guidance and counselling is therefore aimed at bringing about maximum development and self-realization of human potential for the benefit of the individual and the society. In a school, the programme assists students in harmonizing their abilities, interests and values and enables them to develop their full potential.

It directs students on appropriate career and subject choices; solving discipline, education, social and psychological problems; and general adjustment to school life (Gerardo, 1996).

Guidance and counselling programs in Cameroon’s education system have not been given the attention it deserves, and if attention is not given to this form of education program, the majority of school students will continue to find it difficult in career decision making.

Okolie (2014) asserts that many college students lack ideas on which course to study in the higher education institution after leaving the school. The reason is that; they lack services of professional guidance and a counsellor who will assist them in career decision-making.

It has been observed that many students who perform well in mathematics and science technology-related subjects in secondary schools end up studying arts or social science related courses at the University instead of studying science, technology or engineering-related courses to boost their academic performance; this is mostly seen in Cameroon education institutions.

After being admitted into the University, such students find it difficult to cope with other students who choose the right courses leading to their chosen career path. It is on the premises that the researcher deems it necessary to carry out a study in the Buea municipality to find out the role of guidance and cancelling on the academic performance of secondary school students in the Buea Municipality. Meanwhile, the topic is open for further research.

 Objectives of the Study

 General Objective

The general objective of this study was to examine the extent to which guidance and counselling affect the academic performance of students in some secondary schools in the Buea municipality.

Specific Objectives

The study was guided by the following specific research objectives:

1. To find out the influence of group counselling on the academic performance of school students in the Buea municipality.
2. To examine the influence of solution-focused brief counselling on the academic performance of school students in the Buea municipality.
3. To find out the influence of conflict resolution counselling on the academic performance of students in the Buea municipality.

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